Liquid crystal elements with variable refractive index, such as a liquid crystal lens, have heretofore been proposed. Such liquid crystal elements are needed to decrease the drive voltage. In view of this, for example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a liquid crystal lens in which a transparent insulating layer is interposed between an electrode and a liquid crystal layer and a high-resistivity layer is disposed on a surface of the transparent insulating layer facing the liquid crystal layer. The provision of the high-resistivity layer as described in Patent Literature 1 enables the decrease in drive voltage of the liquid crystal lens.